Method of manufacturing stone veneers

ABSTRACT

An efficient method of manufacturing stone corner veneers, veneers, floor tiles and pavers, as well as a method of applying the veneers, is disclosed. The method consists of manufacturing veneer corners from a substantially parallelepiped stone, comprising the steps of: a) making a cut from a split face side of the stone into the stone a distance equal to the dimension of the stone from the surface being cut into to the opposite surface of the stone, less a thickness equal to a desired thickness of the veneer corner; and b) splitting the stone, from the side of the stone parallel to the cut and furthest from it, along a grain to the internal end of the cut whereby the veneer corner is created having an ashler side and a split face side and the remaining stone has only one cut face on an ashler side.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of stone masonry. In particular, it relates to a method of manufacturing stone veneers, corners and pavers and a method of applying the veneers to buildings.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Stone has long been used as a construction material for houses and other buildings. Typically, it was quarried and cut into blocks that were laid as structural components of buildings. More recently, due to the costs associated with materials like granite, it has become popular to cut the stone into thin slabs of about one inch in thickness and to apply these slabs or veneers to the exterior of buildings to give the appearance that the buildings are made from stone.

Stone that is cut with a saw loses its natural appearance on the surfaces created by the saw cut and those surfaces are not visually appealing. It is, therefore, beneficial to maximize the amount of veneer created from a single stone that has at least one natural surface rather than having both its upper and lower surfaces saw-cut.

Another difficulty in the industry is that, when two veneers are used to make a corner, it is visually obvious, because of the seams between the veneers, that thin stone is being used and this is not desirable. It is, therefore, also beneficial to be able to make corners that are seamless and not obviously veneers.

Stone typically has a grain to it, so that a cut stone block, having six sides, will have four sides in which the grain is visible, called the side grain or ashler sides and two sides, called the split face sides. The split faces are so-called because that is the face along which it is easy to split the stone. Cutting the stone across the split face requires a saw and is both more difficult and more expensive than splitting stone. However, the appearance of the ashler side has become more popular than split face side.

Often, when the stone is split or cut, it may end up less than 1″ think and be unsuitable for use as veneer. However, such pieces can be suitable for use as floor tiles.

The use of a jigsaw pattern is well known in the paving industry, where pavers of widths of 5″, 6″, and 11.5″ are often used. With two half-inch fill gaps, a 5″ and a 6″ paver will have a combined width of 12″, as will the 11.5″ paver with one fill gap, which allows for the easy placement of the pavers to form a tile pattern, something that can be done by an unskilled workman. This method of placement is not known for veneers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to provide a method of manufacturing seamless corner veneers that give the appearance that they are full building stones.

It is another object of this invention to provide a method of manufacturing that maximizes the output of such corners from a single stone.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a method of manufacturing veneers that maximizes the amount of veneer or pavers produced from a single stone that has at least one natural, non-saw cut face.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple method of applying veneers to a building wall that allows an unskilled worker to perform the task.

According to an aspect of the invention there is provided a method of manufacturing veneer corners from a parallelepiped stone, comprising the steps of: a) making a cut from a split face side of the stone into the stone a distance equal to the dimension of the stone from the surface being cut into to the opposite surface of the stone, less a thickness equal to a desired thickness of the veneer corner; and b) splitting the stone, from the side of the stone parallel to the cut and furthest from it, along a grain to the internal end of the cut whereby the veneer corner is created having an ashler side and a split face side and the remaining stone has only one cut face on an ashler side. For clarity, parallelepiped includes substantially parallelepiped for the purpose of this specification and the claims that follow.

Preferably, there are the further steps creating one or more additional veneer corners by repeating the method above described. Preferably, there are the further steps of splitting the remaining stone into veneers or floor tiles or cutting or splitting the remaining stone into pavers. The corners thus formed may be 90°, or may have any useful angle between 0° and 180°.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of manufacturing veneer corners from a parallelepiped stone, comprising the steps of: a) making a first cut from a split face side of the stone into the stone a distance equal to the dimension of the stone from the surface being cut into to the opposite surface of the stone, less a thickness equal to a desired thickness of the veneer corner; b) making a second cut, from the side of the stone parallel to the first cut and furthest from it, towards the internal end of the cut but terminating a distance from the internal end of the first cut, whereby the veneer corner remains attached to the remaining stone by a narrow overhang; and c) snapping the overhang to release the veneer corner having an ashler side and a split face side.

Preferably, there are the further steps creating one or more additional veneer corners by repeating the method above described. Preferably, there are the further steps of splitting the remaining stone into veneers or floor tiles or cutting or splitting the remaining stone into pavers. The corners thus formed may be 90°, or may have any useful angle between 0° and 180°.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of manufacturing veneers or pavers from a parallelepiped stone comprising the steps of: a) cutting a veneer off an ashler side of the stone; b) cutting a second veneer off the opposite ashler side of the stone; and c) splitting the remaining stone into two or more split face veneers, pavers or floor tiles.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a veneer, paver, floor tile or veneer corner made by any of the methods of manufacture as disclosed above.

Other and further advantages and features of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described in more detail, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like numbers refer to like elements, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a split face view of a typical building stone;

FIG. 2 is a view of the stone showing the method of manufacturing a first veneer corner;

FIG. 3 is a view of the stone showing the first veneer corner detached from the remainder of the stone;

FIG. 4 is a view of the stone showing the method of manufacturing two ashler and a plurality of split face veneers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to FIG. 1, a typical stone is shown at 10. The side grain or ashler faces are indicated at 1 and the split face is indicated at 2. A presently preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in which veneer corners 30 of thickness T1 and T2 are produced by making a cut 20 into the stone across the split face 2 to a depth equal to the thickness of the stone, less T1, a desired thickness of the veneer corner, and then splitting the stone from the side planar with the cut, but furthest from it, along a plane 24, distance T2, a desired thickness of the veneer corner, typically, but not necessarily, equal to T1, from the face of the stone opposite the side from which the first cut was made. This process may be repeated a number of times with the remaining stone 34.

In another presently preferred embodiment, the splitting can be replaced by a second cut along plane 24 that terminates before intersecting the first cut 20. The created overhang supports the remaining stone until the saw can be removed and the stone repositioned, at which time it can easily be snapped to release the veneer corner and the remaining stone. This process may also be repeated a number of times.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the remaining stone, after the creation of one or more veneer corners by either approach, can be split into a plurality of veneers or pavers.

Referring to FIG. 4, in yet a further embodiment of the invention, the stone 20 is cut twice along 40 resulting in two pieces of ashier veneer. The remaining stone is then either split parallel to the split face to produce a plurality of split face veneers or is cut once along 14 to produce two split face pavers.

This concludes the description of a presently preferred embodiment of the invention. The foregoing description has been presented for the purpose of illustration and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching and will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is intended the scope of the invention be limited not by this description but by the claims that follow. 

1. A method of manufacturing veneer corners from a parallelepiped stone, comprising the steps of: a) making a cut from a split face side of the stone into the stone a distance equal to the dimension of the stone from a surface being cut into to an opposite surface of the stone, less a thickness equal to a desired thickness of the veneer corner; and b) splitting the stone, from a side of the stone parallel to the cut and furthest from it, along a grain to an internal end of the cut whereby the veneer corner is created having an ashler side and a split face side and the remaining stone has only one cut face on an ashler side.
 2. The method as claimed in claim 1 comprising the further step c) of creating one or more veneer corners, with natural outside faces, by repeating the method as described therein.
 3. The method as claimed in claim 1 comprising the further step c) of splitting the remaining stone into veneers or floor tiles or cutting or splitting the remaining stone into pavers.
 4. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the cut and the splitting form a corner whose inside angle is greater than 0° but less than 180°.
 5. A method of manufacturing veneer corners from a parallelepiped stone, comprising the steps of: a) making a first cut from a split face side of the stone into the stone a distance equal to the dimension of the stone from a surface being cut into to an opposite surface of the stone, less a thickness equal to a desired thickness of the veneer corner; b) making a second cut, from a side of the stone parallel to the first cut and furthest from it, towards an internal end of the first cut but terminating a distance from an internal end of the first cut, whereby the veneer corner remains attached to the remaining stone by a narrow overhang; and c) snapping the overhang to release the veneer corner having an ashler side and a split face side.
 6. The method as claimed in claim 5 comprising the further step d) of creating one or more veneer corners, with natural outside faces, by repeating the method as described therein.
 7. The method as claimed in claim 5 comprising the further step d) of splitting the remaining stone into veneers or floor tiles or cutting or splitting the remaining stone into pavers.
 8. The method as claimed in claim 5 wherein the first cut and the second cut form a corner whose inside angle is greater than 0° but less than 180°.
 9. A method of manufacturing veneers or pavers from a parallelepiped stone comprising the steps of: a) cutting a veneer off a first ashler side of the stone; b) cutting a second veneer off an opposite ashler side of the stone to said first ashler side; and; c) splitting the remaining stone into two or more split face veneers, pavers or floor files.
 10. A veneer corner manufactured from a parallelepiped stone according to the method of claim
 1. 11. The method according to claim 2, wherein each cut and splitting corner forming each veneer corner form a corner whose inside angle is greater than 0° but less than 180°.
 12. The method according to claim 6, wherein each cut and splitting corner forming each veneer corner form a corner whose inside angle is greater than 0° but less than 180°.
 13. A veneer corner manufactured from a parallelepiped stone according to the method of claim
 5. 14. A veneer manufactured from a parallelepiped stone according to the method of claim
 9. 15. A paver manufactured from a parallelepiped stone according to the method of claim
 9. 